The winter aconites are nearing the end of their flowering season here and a small report might be of interest. Thanks to the generosity of friends and luck with a seed exchange years ago, I have five forms in the garden here. 1. The common one with acid-yellow flowers. One might say this yellow has a touch of green in it. 2. A form that came to me as seed labelled "Eranthis hyemalis aurantiaca". It is not orange, but rather an orange-tinged yellow. You might call it a chrome yellow; about the color of the beaten yolk of a good free-range egg. I finally got smart this year and separated these from the type form, planting them in an isolated bed by themselves so I can collect seed without worrying about mixing the two. 3. A double form originally from the Gothenburg Botanic Garden. This is a fullish semi-double, and is coming to its peak of flowering now as the main planting starts to fade. Curiously, it has a few seedlings emerging around it. Not sterile? 4. Eranthis x tubergenii, a hybrid between E. hyemalis and E. cilicia. This is running a week or so later. Notable for the bronze coloration of the young foliage as it emerges from the soil. 5. A very pale-flowered form. Only recently acquired, only one flower this year (its first for me), but looking like it'll put on strength and multiply well in later years now that it's established. Besides these, I have E. longistipatata (sp?) in a pot, where it does very little but survive. And I once grew and flowered E. pinnatifida, but it was killed in a sudden hard freeze. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island